1.7 Read and translate the text. Professional foresters

When forestry was in its infancy, it was a career for hardy men who loved the outdoors. Most of the foresters worked for the government and spent their time protecting the forests against fires and illegal woodcutters.

In recent years foresters have become much more professional. Now a man or woman who wants to practice forestry is expected to have a college degree in forest sciences. Many professional foresters work for the government, but their work is different from that of their predecessors. Professional foresters are usually called on to be forest managers, directing other people in the tree planting, tree improvement, and protection activities they prescribe.

Many foresters find careers in research, working in such areas as tree improvement or insect control. Some researchers work for government agencies, but industry also employs forest scientists. People with less formal training may still find careers as forest rangers, protecting the forests, or in related activities such as harvesting and tree planting.

1.8 Speak on

Are you interested in the information from the texts 2 – A, B and the text 3? Is it useful for your future work? Discuss it.

Unit 2 Protecting the forest

2.1 Read and translate the text1 using a dictionary.

T ext1

Forest problems

Once the forest is started, protection is a major concern for forest managers. Fire is one of the most dramatic enemies, especially for hardwood species. But insects and diseases, while not so obvious as fire, destroy far more trees each year than are lost to fire and other natural disasters.

Insect and Disease Problems

I

Figure 2.1

nsect pests such as the gypsy moth, spruce budworm, southern pine beetle, and Douglas fir tussock moth destroy thousands of trees each year. In the 1930s the American chestnut, once one of the most attractive and commercially important trees in the United States, was virtually eradicated by the chestnut blight. The American elm has suffered much the same fate because of the Dutch elm disease.

Dutch elm disease is caused by a fungus which is spread by the elm bark beetle. It was first identified in the Netherlands in 1921 and, since then, has been found all over the Europe and North America. The first symptoms appear in early June. The shoots wilt, the leaves shrivel and die, and branches die back from the tips. The leaves shrivel and die, and branches twisted. Finally the whole branch of the tree may die.

On cutting through a cross section of dead wood, brown spots can sometimes be found. Vertical black streaks can be seen on the outside of the wood. The disease can be controlled by cutting off the branches several yards away from any signs of the disease. Fungicides can be used to kill the elm bark beetle. The fungus is also spread to healthy elms by underground roots which have grown together. To prevent this, trenches must be dug to stop contact between healthy and unhealthy roots. The ground can be injected with fungicide and even the trees themselves can be injected to protect the healthy elms and to prevent the spread of the fungus before the trees are injected. This photo (figure 2.1) is all too typical of the devastation caused by Dutch elm disease. Once a tree in a row is infected, the disease can move through connected root systems to kill the entire row.

As a rule, older, slower-growing trees that have lost their vigor, and trees that have been damaged by fire or drought, are most vulnerable to attack by insects and disease. Often, however, insect and disease infestations grow to epidemic proportions in weak stands and then the pests attack nearby healthier stands.

Forest scientists continually search for ways to control enemies of the productive forest. They have created many special chemicals to help control forest pests and diseases. Much ecological research is being done to encourage natural enemies of insect pests in order to control destructive populations.